The London Speaker

Upcoming Irish politico launches TV career at Excalibur Speakers!

From Exacalibur Speakers

Film cameras were present at the Cheshire at November's Exalibur meeting to launch the political career of Terry Ghusto, a fictional character who could be hittin the screens the New Year.  The meeting started as normal with a moving and funny speech by Pemma Fox about her trip to Tibet where her family originated which was very ably evaluated by Errol Williamson.  This was followed by table topics from Simon Cooper whose theme was famous quotes and “politician” Terry bravely volunteered to do a table topic only to be rigorously evaluated by Anne Bingham. 

For the second part of the meeting  cameras were turned on, and Terry gave the speech to launch his career, set in a fictional toastmasters club in London, wearing a nerdy anorak and carrying his suitcase as he was about to head home in which he appeared to apologise for his country’s contribution to Europe’s debt crisis!  His speech was expertly evaluated by the current Division B champion evaluator Lynne Cantor.  Despite his earlier mauling Terry then took questions from the audience.  Terry and his film crew stayed on to have drinks with members and guests in the bar afterwards and it was a lively evening.

London’s advanced speaking club Excalibur welcomes as guests all members of Toastmasters. A visit is highly recommended. To find out more about the club go to the website http://www.excaliburspeakers.org.uk/.  Meetings take place once a month on the second Wednesday. Next meeting 14 December at 7.15pm. Nearest underground: Temple.

 

London Toastmasters Success and Awards at the UK & Ireland Conference

From Andy O'Sullivan, Immediate Past London Division B Governor

I've just arrived back home from our District 71 Conference, and have so much news to share with you.

It was an amazing District conference with high class workshops (especially from our London Division B Governor Paul Walsh) and two excellent contests.

Saturday saw the UK & Ireland 2011 Humorous Speech contest in which all 9 of the Divisions which make up our District were represented.   In a contest which saw speeches of incredible quality, Ola Aralepo  our London Champion, and member of Tube Talk, rose to the occasion and gave his best ever performance . . . and WON.   Congratulations Ola!!!

Sunday morning saw the Hall of Fame event.  This is where the work we all put in helping our members and clubs during 2010 - 2011 was acknowledged.

Each Area Governor (who suppport a group of clubs) was presented with an award to recognise his/her achievement in obtaining either a Distinguished, Select Distinguished or Presidents Distinguished Area.

There were a number of special awards for our London Division:

- The first was for achieving Presidents Distinguished Division. A recognition of how well our clubs are run and the amount of educational awards our members achieve.

- The Division B team received the ‘District Governors Distinguished Clubs Award’.  This is presented to the three divisions who achieved the highest percentage of Distinguished clubs.  Your hard work resulted in us achieving a fantastic 93.75%.  The highest in the District!

- We also received the ‘District Governor's Extension Award’ for the achieving a net growth in our clubs from the 6 new clubs that Chartered before July.  Again the highest in the District.

- Our 3rd award was ‘District Governor's 20-Plus Award’ for having every one of our clubs with at least 20 members.  We are the only Division to have achieved a 100% success.

This really is an amazing number of awards for us and cements our position as the Division to emulate.  Something I know others are already starting to do.

To me it was wonderful to see all the hard work, time and effort you all put last year being recognised with all these awards.  Thank you and very well done.

If this wasn't enough, there's even more.

- Gilly Cutts received a District Governor Commendation.  This was in recognition for Gilly's wonderful work both at her home club London Cardinals and in supporting 2 new clubs this year. Phoenix Speakers in London and a second in Hanoi, Vietnam.

- Greg Ros (Current Area 31 Area Governor) was awarded the very prestigious 'Toastmaster of the Year' award.  Congratulations Greg!!!

With the marvellous effort and enthusiasm I've already seen being put in by Paul Walsh and the current Division Council, I know our Division will be achieving even more and greater things for our members and clubs over the coming months.  

 From Paul Walsh, London Division B Governor:

Many Congratulations to our award recipients, especially Gilly and Greg,  last year’s Division B Council and of course, our club leaders!

With typical modesty, Andy hasn’t mentioned that he received the award, ‘Division Governor of the Year'.

Good luck to our London Champions as they compete in Glasgow

Post from Dorothea Stuart

Good luck Ola Aralepo, London 2011 Humorous Speech Champion and David Jones, London 2011 Table Topics Champion. Both are competing at the UK & Ireland (District 71) Toastmasters Conference in Glasgow this weekend where hundreds of Toastmasters members will meet for workshops,the contests and business meetings...and more. I'm sure Ola and David will both do an excellent job.  Look forward to hearing about their experiences on their return.

The UK & Ireland 2011 Humorous Speech Contest will be on Saturday afternoon and the UK & Ireland 2011 Table Topics Contest will be on Sunday morning.

Read more about the Flourish Conference at http://flourish2011.co.uk

Workshop this Thursday - The 6 Questions to Successful Speaking

From Michelle Cheung, President Imperial College Speakers Club

Come and support our very own Aaron Wood giving his workshop at Imperial College Speakers. 

What:  "The 6 Questions to Successful Speaking"

When: Thursday 10 November, 6.15pm for 6.30pm start.

Where: LT 208, Skempton Building, South Kensington Campus (Building 27 on map: https://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/campusinfo/public/sthkencampus.pdf)

"If you are like the great majority of people, speaking in public is a terrifying prospect.  At the same time, you know that the ability to speak confidently, credibly (and sometimes creatively!) will take you from being just one of the crowd to the focus.  The ability to communicate effectively is often the difference between being a solid performer and a superstar - and it is within everyone's reach.

In this 60 minute seminar we will address the 6 questions which will enable you to move past many of the obstacles in the way to successful communication.  This interactive session will help you to work through any speech project - of any length - and create a compelling plan to wow your audience."

For the full synopsis of the workshop and a biography of the presenter, please visit: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/scc/speakersclub/events.html.

 

Join us for a special meeting at London Corinthians Thurs 10 Nov 2011

 From Peter Goodwin, VP PR, London Corinthians 

London Corinthian Mike Silverman is leaving for distant shores!

Yes, one of our favourite Past Presidents, Mike, makes a final appearance at London Corinthian Toastmasters on the 10th November 2011, before leaving the United Kingdom for the warmer climes of New Zealand.

Mike was brought up in New Zealand, so though born English, spiritually, he is a Kiwi and will be going back to familiar territory!

Mike is a founder member of London Corinthians, Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) and served as its third Club President in 1992-1993. He was also District Governor in 1997 to 1998 for District 71!

After 21 years with London Corinthians he is leaving London permanently. During his time here with us he was a consistent presence in Toastmasters contests:-

London Corinthians International Speech Contest winner 2005,2008,2010 & 2011
Area 6 International Speech Contest 2011, 2010, 2008 & 2005
London Corinthians Evaluation Contest winner 2000, 2001 & 2003

District 71 Evaluation Contest 2000, 2001 & 2003
London Corinthians Humorous Speech Contest winner 1991

A great contributor to the Club, most recently in August 2010 with his workshop 'How to Write a Five Minute Speech in Five Minutes' which was enjoyed by all the attendees.

We have an exclusive interview for London Corinthian Toastmasters with Mike!

Check it out at:  http://londoncorinthian.freetoasthost.org/images/PPI-1992-93-MS.html
or follow the link for Mike Silverman at our London Corinthians Hall of Fame page:-http://londoncorinthian.freetoasthost.org/page2.html 

You can catch Mike at our next meeting at 7:30 pm on 10th November 2011 at the Thistle Westminster, 49 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0QT.

Do you need a lift to the conference in Glasgow?

From Andy Pape, Area 47 Governor

Does anyone need a lift to the Toastmasters Flourish Conference in Glasgow 11-13 November?

I’ve hired a minibus and will be driving up on Friday, returning Sunday afternoon. We have 4 spaces left and you will be joining a fun group of fellow Toastmasters from all around London.  Plenty of room for luggage and avoid the hassle of connections between buses, planes and trains! £45pp contribution including petrol.  Contact me to reserve your place. Email here.

Join Society Speakers at their new venue on 16 November

From Andy Pape, Area 47 Governor

Thanks to all the Toastmasters who supported our first Society Speakers meeting.  We had a great turn out and the feedback has been very positive - we have 5 members already!  I'm sure we can build a successful club in which members are all able to become better speakers for their charities.  

Founder member, Stella Meadows, has been working hard to find us a new venue and we are pleased to announce that our future meetings will be at the newly converted Fitzrovia Community Centre on Foley Street.  It's in a great location, a few minutes from Goodge Street Tube and close to Warren Street, Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street.  Here's a map.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 16^th November, followed by meetings on 30th November and 14th December.  From January we will meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month.  Meeting time will be 7pm for a 7.10pm start and, as we will be running 2 speech meetings for a while, we should be finishing by 9pm at the latest.

Your help over the coming months will be invaluable to us as we build up our membership.  Please spread the word around people you know who work or volunteer for charities.  Do let Andy know if you are able to attend meetings and if you’d like to take on a role. Email here.

London Toastmasters Educational Awards October 2011

Post from Dorothea Stuart

 

Congratulation to all our London Toastmasters who achieved educational awards this month. Always good to see that the number of people achieving awards is ahead of last year. We're moving in the right direction!

Competent Communicator

Camilla Graham. Phoenix Speakers. Area 6

Len Welson. London Communicators. Area 47

Zain Chinoy. MLP London Bridge Speakers. Area 33

Advanced Communicator Bronze

Rona Harding.  Northern Lights Speakers. Area 47

Competent Leader

Diana Lowe.  St Paul's Speakers. Area 33

Jill Segal.  Grosvenor Square Speakers. Area 45

Educational Awards	Last Year 2010/11	October 2011	Division B year to date
Competent Communicator	85	3	21
Adv Comm Bronze	20	1	3
Adv Comm Silver	5	-	2
Adv Comm Gold	4	-	-
Competent Leader	41	1	11
Adv Leader Bronze	11	-	4
Adv Leader Silver	1		-
Leadership Excellence	3	-
Distinguished Toastmaster(DTM)	2	-	-
Total	172	6	41